I was saddened to hear of the death of former local councillor Neil Lindsay on Friday.
Neil, who had lived in Wester Drylaw on Ferry Road, represented Pilton Muirhouse on Lothian Region Council for many years and was a doughty campaigner for the area he served, always arguing passionately for the people of North Edinburgh. Neil was loyally supported throughout by his late wife Violet.
Neil was a driving force behind the Poverty 3 programme which brought European funding to Greater Pilton, and he only narrowly missed out on becoming an MEP, too – what a wealth of stories that would have created!
Neil did not enjoy good health in recent years. I last met him at birthday party organised for Regional Council colleague John Mulvey, In his prime Neil was a master storyteller and a fund of great tales – most of which could not be repeated to a family audience. It was a shock and deeply upsetting to see how illness had affected him: gone was the quick riposte, the sharp observation, gone too was the spark of mischief in his eyes.
I’ll choose to remember the old Neil I knew, holding court at councillor’s corner in Jinglin’ Geordies. We had rare old rows and some some serious pats over the years, but always managed to bury the hatchet over a glass or six.
So long then, Comrade: they just don’t make them like you any more.
Neil is pictured above (right) with some other well-kent local faces; the other bloke’s keen NEN reader Russ Abbot!
Details of funeral arrangements to follow
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